WET WEATHER YESTERDAY

Press, Volume XCIV, Issue 28162, 28 December 1956, Page 6

WET WEATHER YESTERDAY

Sports Fixtures Disrupted

Rain was unexpected in Christchurch yesterday after the blustery but warm weather of Boxing Day. Between 9 a.m. yesterday and midnight, .56 inches had fallen.

The rain fell intermittently throughout the day, and was heavy in the early evening. Between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., 20 points fell and the minimum temperature recorded at Harewood at 9 a.m., was 56.8 degrees. As on December 27, 1955, there was no sunshine yesterday, and the light wind, after changing to the south during the previous night, varied between north and east during the day.

Last year, a south-westerly wind blew on December 26 and 27, and after nine hours of sunshine on Boxing Day there was intermittent rain on December 27. On Boxing Day this year, there was 6hr 24min of sunshine.

Rain, which was light in Christchurch at 8 a.m. yesterday, extended south down the coast about as far as Ealing. From there to Timaru, the weather was fine but overcast all day. North of Ashburton near Rakaia, however, hail fell about 9 p.m. Rain there was quite heavy at that time.

The four main sports fixtures in Christchurch yesterday were affected to varying degrees by the bad weather. There was only an hour and a half of play in the Plunket Shield cricket match between Canterbury and Otago at Lancaster Park; and the Canterbury Lawn Tennis Association’s championships at Wilding Park were postponed. In the Christchurch amateur golf championships at Shirley, only competitors in match play persevered, and there was practically no play in the Christchurch Bowling Centre’s Christmas fours tournament in the morning.

Theatre managers were caught unprepared by the change of weather. They had not expected the influx of children on the rainy afternoon, and had difficulty in ushering them to their seats in the crowded theatres. There were also long queues of people making reservations for film entertainment for what promised to be, and was a very wet evening.